Learn about the vocative case in Bulgarian
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Intro |
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| Michael: What is the vocative case? |
| Yana: And is it commonly used in Bulgarian? |
| Michael: At BulgarianPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Karen Lee wants to make the most of a good weather day and goes for a walk in the park. She calls her neighbor, Tanya. |
| "Tanya, are you busy today?" |
| Karen Lee: Танче, заета ли си днес? (Tanche, zaeta li si dnes?) |
| Dialogue |
| Karen Lee: Танче, заета ли си днес? (Tanche, zaeta li si dnes?) |
| Tanya Kamenova: Не, не съм. (Ne, ne sam.) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Karen Lee: Танче, заета ли си днес? (Tanche, zaeta li si dnes?) |
| Michael: "Tanya, are you busy today?" |
| Tanya Kamenova: Не, не съм. (Ne, ne sam.) |
| Michael: "No, I am not. " |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: The vocative case is used to address someone in direct speech. In Bulgarian, the vocative forms are only in masculine and feminine—very rarely in the neuter gender—and refer only to singular nouns and personal names. There are several general rules about how to form the vocative case in Bulgarian. For masculine nouns ending with |
| Yana: -ш, -ж, -ч, -ин (-sh, -zh, -ch, -in), |
| Michael: we add the suffix |
| Yana: -о (-o) |
| Michael: Here’s an example with the nouns "a man": |
| Yana: мъж - мъжо (mazh - mazho), |
| Michael: and "a Bulgarian": |
| Yana: българин - българино (balgarin - balgarino). |
| Michael: For masculine nouns ending with |
| Yana: –н, -л, -т, -р (-n, -l, -t, -r) |
| Michael: we add the suffix |
| Yana: -ю (-yu) |
| Michael: This is how the Bulgarian word for "teacher" |
| Yana: учител (uchitel) |
| Michael: becomes the vocative |
| Yana: учителю (uchitelyu) |
| Michael: Masculine nouns ending with a vowel, such as |
| Yana: –ой, -а, -я, -о, -и (-oy, -a, -ya, -o, -i) |
| Michael: usually don’t have a vocative form. The vocative form for feminine nouns ending with |
| Yana: -а (-a) |
| Michael: changes to the suffix |
| Yana: -o (-o) |
| Michael: This is how feminine nouns such as "mother" and "grandmother" |
| Yana: мама, баба (mama, baba) |
| Michael: in direct speech turn into |
| Yana: мамо, бабо (mamo, babo) |
| Michael: Feminine nouns ending with |
| Yana: -ица (-itsa) |
| Michael: take the vocative suffix |
| Yana: -e (-e) |
| Michael: like in the following example with the Bulgarian word for "queen": |
| Yana: кралица - кралице (kralitsa - kralitse) |
| Michael: Let’s see how this works with personal names of both genders. |
| Do you remember how Karen Lee says "Tanya, are you busy today?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Yana as Karen Lee: Танче, заета ли си днес? (Tanche, zaeta li si dnes?) |
| Michael: Did you notice how the name Tanya changes when addressed directly? It drops the ending |
| Yana: -я (-ya) |
| Michael: and adds the suffix |
| Yana: -че (-che) |
| Michael: The same rule applies to other feminine names like: |
| Yana: Ваня, Елена (Vanya, Elena) |
| Michael: Sometimes feminine proper names are used in a vocative case without changing because it is either not needed to do so, or it would sound rude if you add the usual suffix |
| Yana: -o (-o) |
| Michael: Some of these feminine names end with the suffixes: |
| Yana: -а and -я (-a and -ya) |
| Michael: Here are examples of such names: |
| Yana: Мария, Маргарита, Илияна (Mariya, Margarita, Iliyana) |
| Michael: You may offend someone if you call them: |
| Yana: Марийо, Маргарито, Илияно (Mariyo, Margarito, Iliyano) |
| Michael: Some masculine names follow the same rule. Here are a few of them: |
| Yana: Петко, Андрей, Георги (Petko, Andrey, Georgi) |
| Michael: However, the most common vocative suffix for masculine personal names is: |
| Yana: -e (-е) |
| Michael: And this is how these masculine names |
| Yana: Иван, Калин, Борис (Ivan, Kalin, Boris) |
| Michael: change in direct speech to |
| Yana: Иване, Калине, Борисе (Ivane, Kaline, Borise) |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you expanded your knowledge about the Vocative Case in Bulgarian. This case is used to address someone directly in the moment of speaking and applies to nouns in masculine and feminine gender. Even though there are some general rules about how to properly swap suffixes to form a vocative case, the richness of Bulgarian language allows different vocative modifications of the same noun. Here’s an example with the name Dimitar |
| Yana: Димитре, Мите, Митак, Митко, Дими, Миташки (Dimitre, Mite, Mitak, Mitko, Dimi, Mitashki) |
| Michael: All these names are vocative forms of one and the same name. |
| Expansion |
| Michael: The vocative case usually cuts the distance between the speaker and the addressee and this is why it is not recommended to be used in formal situations. For example, if you’d like to address the president, it would be inappropriate to say |
| Yana: Господин президенте (Gospodin prezidente) |
| Michael: Instead, use nominative case |
| Yana: Господин президент (Gospodin prezident) |
| Michael: Exceptions to this rule are |
| Yana: господине, госпожо, госпожице (gospodine, gospozho, gospozhitse) |
| Michael: which are the vocative forms of "sir," "madam," and "miss." |
| Language Tip |
| Michael: It is interesting to mention a rule that applies only to vocative forms of feminie nouns. They can never have stress on the last syllable. This is why if the stress of a two- or multiple syllable noun falls on the last syllable, it moves up in its vocative form. Here’s an example to illustrate this rule: |
| Yana: сестрá - сéстрo (sestrá - séstro) |
| Michael: which are respectively the regular and vocative forms of the feminine noun "sister." |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Yana: До скоро! |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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